Rejection

I was contemplating rejection, mainly in a work situation. We write all these manuscripts all the time - by and large we have been lucky, but a good number of them are returned back, rejected. My co-workers and I go through a period of dejection then - if the reject is with good, stated reasons, we can at least sit down and address them - but many a time no details are provided, and we don't even know why it was turned down! In any case, I convince everyone to think positively and move ahead. It's definitely one difficult aspect of my work, but we generally move on ...

(From New Yorker)

I read this nice article about the New Yorker cartoon rejects - check out this awesome blog:

"Rejection as Creative Catalyst: A Lesson in Entrepreneurship from New Yorker Cartoon Editor Bob Mankoff". It has nothing whatsoever to do with my work life, but it was still interesting to read! I stumbled upon it when I was searching for information about Gold Catalysts for my class, of all things! And it reminded me of a recent rejection I had suffered (not that I have found a way to make money off of that! Though the idea of a web portal of rejected manuscripts in Chemical Reaction Engineering would surely be cool! 😛)

As I was discussing something with the child, I remembered, due to the context, the  basketball games I have lost in over the years. It is quite a substantial number! But I had to dig deep in my memory for that - I was trying to convince her of the usual - that failure is sometimes a stepping stone to success - and no one wakes up and starts winning things, games in particular. The importance of effort, and dedication, and a good dose of luck cannot be under-emphasised, I was saying.

I guess I should have added that the memory of happy situations can be more prominent than that of unhappy ones, and while I know that pit of the stomach feeling of disappointment very well, I think I know the thrill, the exhilaration, the joy of a good job done to completion much better. And the happy moments can easily dislodge those unhappy ones in the long run! I don't think she believed me.

My student graduated and the committee was very respectful of him, unlike in previous encounters. We had a great lunch together where a visiting German professor gave the boy a hug. After the number of times we have had rocky meetings and the amount of heart ache I had suffered thinking about his thesis over the past five years, it was such a pleasant experience! I came out of it feeling super strong and ready to deal with stuff, after all, these young folks deal so well and come out happy, why shouldn't I! 

So here I end, on that pleasant note. If I had applied to be a Spice Girl and was rejected on the basis of my height (or unruly hair), I would be one of several, and all of us would go out into the sunset in companionable silence, heads held high and positive thoughts in our hearts! 

Sum Total

Germany is done with. I returned home bleary-eyed last night in a real crabby mood. Showered. Kissed the people sleeping in my bed without waking them up & felt a bit better. Crashed clutching my hurting head and before I knew it it was 10 am and a new day had dawned in my life and in Chennai.

It was an awesome few days. I had good company when I wanted. Lots of alone time when I needed it. High speed internet. I exercised a number of times. I explored trails and tracks and the whole town on foot. The weather was crisp and cold but not altogether unpleasant. The conference went well and I talked research for many hours with many intelligent people.

I did some minimal sight-seeing. It was not my first time in Germany (third or fourth time I have been there). I feel comfortable in that beautiful country now. I feel like I want to go back. I like their history. I especially like their old people, and I met one wonderful old lady who had tears in her eyes when we left her. I loved your enthusiasm Eve Maria Star, maybe we will meet again some day. 

I loved the trains. I loved traipsing around in the wonderful Inter-City Express, but also the tiny trams that took me to the little town we stayed in. Bad Herrenalb (pop. <10000!). This is right in the Black Forest, and had tons of beautiful trails going into the forest. It was like living in a fairy-tale. With a happy ending. And beer.

The images above are a collage of my experiences there. Except for the fact that I did not drink all that beer - that picture is from the internet (sorry!). The rest are my own. I drank some wonderful beers, I especially liked a thin but dark beer called Kostritzer. The last time I drank a Pils I really hated it, but the Pils I drank this time I liked, also.

My running was not quality running. It was exploring a new place alone running. It was pushing beyond the envelope running. It was being Indian and living in Chennai but getting out there at 6 am before anyone wakes up to crunch on the snow running (it was not all that much snow, but the temperatures were a little below 0 C). It was 'lets figure out how much you love running' running. The little green google map up there doesn't do justice to the wonder I felt.

I'll be back someday. To walk amidst tall Germans. To see apple-cheeked children carrying toboggans that I would like to try someday. Auf Wiedersehen!